Bang On Balls Chronicles Nintendo Switch Ten Minute Taster "Let's Switch Up Those Balls!" ⚽️🏀⚾️🥎🎾🏐🎱 @bangonballs #IndieGame #GameDev

Rich has a go at banging his balls in this 3D platformer on the Nintendo Switch. Glorious bouncy 3D platforming and combat inspired by some of the best in the genre from Italian plumbers, blue hedgehogs, or wild bandicoots! Become BOB, a reckless bouncy hero embarking on a quest of epic adventures and chaos. Open World Exploration and Destruction Roll into jam-packed open worlds that let you explore and utterly smash them to pieces in the process! Conquer adversaries and boss fights, tackle thrilling challenges, and unearth hidden secrets. Realms bursting with activities to do at your own pace while you break almost everything along the way. Bounce Around History Bounce between multiple (slightly inaccurate) historically themed open worlds, each with unique mechanics, items, and enemies. From the Vikings through to the Age of Pirates. From Feudal Japan over into The Space Race. Each world lets you hop in and out whenever and carry over progress.

Video Game Lo-Fi Kingdom Hearts Vinyl Review - Review Lo Fi Lee 💿 @CarugaRecords #Vinyl #VideoGameVinyl

It was bound to happen eventually – one of the titanic JRPG series has its own lo-fi remix album. The original Kingdom Hearts came out way, way back in 2002, and the series now comprises as many as 13 games (depending on who you listen to, and whether you include collections, mobile games etc). Unlike other releases in the Video Game LoFi series, we have one producer across the whole album with featured artists, instead of the ensemble efforts we’re used to seeing. In the words of lost:tree themselves:

“This series and the music always had a special place in my heart ever since I was a kid and it still means a lot to me now, so picking only 10 tracks to remix was really difficult for me. This album is like a love letter to the game and I hope I was able to do the music justice with these remixes.”

Video Game LoFi: Kingdom Hearts vol. 2 - The Ocean Between Vinyl Review by Lo Fi Lee 💿 @CuragaRecords #Vinyl #VideoGameVinyl

Hot on the heels of the original album, here we have the second volume in the Video Game LoFi series, from Curaga Records, featuring reworked songs from the Kingdom Hearts series. 

This one comes from the mind of the producer foreteller with a little help from others. The major difference between volumes 1 and 2 is that this one is generally instrumental, with only the opening and closing tracks featuring guest vocalists. 

The presentation is in line with much of the Video Game LoFi collection, comprising a holographic jacket, paper sleeve and a pretty blue, purple and pink marbled record on 180g vinyl.

Side A kicks off with Simple and Clean, featuring vocalist REVEN, whose lyrics are kept low in the mix, allowing a summery breakbeat and dreamy synth to come to the fore. Track 2, Destiny Islands, all the way from the first game, features erstwhile series producer Save Point, with laid-back acoustic guitar giving the whole thing a Super Mario Sunshine feel. Across the rest of the side, Sacred Moon uses echoey sampling and gentle breaks to give an introspective mood, while Nachtflügel comes with a quiet island vibe before Treasured Memories closes us out with muted vocal samples over early-90s beats and washes.

Xion’s Theme opens side B, sampled bass guitar looping hypnotically around synth waves before fading into Ventus’ Theme, which features marimba-ish percussion supporting uptempo keys. Cavern of Remembrance is up next, with oddly truncated kick drum samples making it one of the more curious tracks in the series. Dark Impetus features more islandy guitar work before we finish with Don’t Think Twice, another track that featured on the first album. Vocalist Nila turns up on this one, albeit vocodered to within an inch of her life. It’s a wide-open number with gentle DnB hi-hats, and probably hits the mark as the standout track.

SUMMARY

This album marks a return to series themes for Video Game LoFi; whereas volume 1 changed it up with lots of vocals, this one goes back to using them sparingly, along with the odd sample from the games. 

This doesn’t mean one is better than the other – both albums are worth your time, but fans of the series will probably prefer this one. 

As always, the album is available on Bandcamp, but can also be found in the usual streaming haunts if you fancy a bit of try before you buy.

PURCHASE LINK: 

https://materia.store/collections/video-game-lofi-kingdom-hearts-vol-2-the-ocean-between/products/video-game-lofi-kingdom-hearts-vol-2-the-ocean-between-foreteller1xlp-vinyl-record